Golden Road has been on the fast track. I didn’t expect so many beers so quickly and now the restaurant is ready too.
The grand opening is coming later but you can still head to the railroad tracks on the Glendale / Atwater border and get food and beer and sit outside and enjoy the glorious SoCal Holiday weather.
I was there on Saturday afternoon and had the Rosemary Turkey club which was quite delicious along with the new Stout and Point the Way IPA.
It is a lovely, bright and airy space that is lovely to sit and explore the range of beers from Jon Carpenter and his brewing crew as well as the many guest taps too.
So if you find yourself at the Glendale Galleria shopping for Christmas check out the food as well as the beer just a mile or so away.
Cannery # 1 – Golden Road
Since this is CanFest month, my featured breweries don’t come from just one state or region but share the commonality of canning!
And I will start with the one that is literally a 25 minute walk from my home…Golden Road Brewing.
They will be canning their Point the Way IPA (see above) as well as their Hefeweizen to start. You can also get two different sizes of growlers filled as of now and their tasting room will be open sometime in the near future and you will be able to watch the trains zip by as you sip your ale.
LA Beer Week – Day 7 – Golden Road
My second visit to Golden Road brewing on a Sunday afternoon…
….as a big crowd lined up to get access to not only a mini-beer festival but also to scope out the three colorful buildings that make up the Golden Road mega-complex.
There were stations in each building and outside too to where you could get some Hangar 24, Eagle Rock (including Unity 2011), Stone, Dales, Avery, Firestone and of course Point the Way IPA and Hefeweizen from Golden Road.
All of which looked great in the grand opening glass. (That I very nearly broke on the way out). Aside from Point the Way my favorite was the Thrill Seeker IPA from Beachwood. Very herbal and piney aroma that was strong on flavor but not a hop wrecker.
There was quite the crowd from a sheer number perspective but also from the world craft beer luminaries. Let’s name drop! David Walker of Firestone-Walker. Adam Avery of Avery Brewing. Julian from Beachwood Brewing. Megan from Beer West. The guys from Oskar Blues.
But the biggest name drop was the third beer from Golden Road.
Burning Bush is a rauch-IPA that really brings the smoke and BBQ notes but then the hops kick in to balance things out. Quite tasty. Would get rauch fans to try IPA’s and IPA fans to try more Rauchbiers.
Thanks to Tony, Meg, Jon, Cole and Skipp for putting on the party.
Golden Road – the first batches
I had the good fortune to sample the inaugural beers from the new Golden Road Brewing last night at 38 Degrees Alehouse and I am pleased to report that I thoroughly enjoyed both.
I started with the Point the Way IPA. I have to admit that I was concerned due to the brewer’s Dogfish past and the fact that I am not a big Dogfish IPA fan. (I know it’s heresy) But this was a solid effort. Especially considering it’s new equipment and the first batch. It poured a dark orange with a big head on it and the aroma was pure pine. The flavor stayed that way too and for a 5% abv, I got some heat off of it too. Once it warmed up a little some citrus kicked in as well to really round the flavors off.
The hefeweizen also was helped by warming up. And again it was citrus that crept onto the palate. But this citrus had a candied quality to it. And again it really balanced out the big banana flavors and the clove spiciness. This is a great example of the hefe style with a little twist that adds to it instead of overwhelming.
Overall this was a great start for Golden Road. I was expecting some work to be done but these are really good on their own right out of the gate.
Golden Road Brewing
As if running a successful bar in Burbank wasn’t enough.
As if partnering on the ColLAboration events wasn’t enough.
As if opening a huge 65 tap bar wasn’t enough.
Well now Tony Yanow is really going big. And this will be huge for the LA craft beer community. Last night, I along with other craft beer writers got the sneak peak at the facility and more importantly the team behind Golden Road Brewing.
Jon Carpenter (brewmaster) is originally from San Diego but you may recognize him from the late lamented Brewmasters show because he was most recently at Dogfish Head.
Meg Gill (co-founder and Presidnet) comes from two brewing hot spots Boulder and Oskar Blue’s and San Francisco and Speakeasy Ales and Lagers. Combined with Tony they have taken over three distinctively colored buildings next to the train tracks in Atwater Village (on the dividing line of LA and Glendale).
There will be a pub in the yellow building. A barrel aging facility in the red and the blue building will hold the brewing operations.
The styles are yet to be determined. Too early in the development stage for that but don’t be surprised to see a hoppy California style brew. And it will be canned! The line has been purchased. Obviously with a barrel room their will be aged beers done but again too early to give definitive answers as to what kind though the word sour was bandied about.
If I can be corny for a moment, craft beer in LA looks golden right now.